India vs England 2021: Brad Hogg chooses the Indian bowling line-up for the first Test in Chennai

India vs England 2021: Brad Hogg chooses the Indian bowling line-up for the first Test in Chennai
India celebrate a wicket against Australia

With the dust from the legendary tour against Australia settled, the focus for India will now be on the home series against England which is set to begin from February 5 with the first Test in Chennai. There will then be three more Tests with the second one also in Chennai and the third and fourth in Ahmedabad. The third Test will be a day/night Test. India will go into the series as overwhelming favorites due to their home advantage as well as their rich vein of form.

England themselves aren’t in bad form either having just whitewashed Sri Lanka away from home. Led by the dependable Joe Root and having an excellent mix of youth and experience, England will look to fight hard against an Indian line-up that looks near-invincible thanks to the return of the likes of Virat Kohli, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah and Ishant Sharma.

‘I will have three quicks’ – Brad Hogg

YouTube video

Former Australian spinner Brad Hogg spoke on his YouTube channel about India’s line-up for the first Test and chose his own bowling attack. He opted for three pacers and two spinners and said, “For India, I will have Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, and Siraj. All three quicks complement each other. Bumrah – quick, can attack the stumps, can move the ball both ways. Ishant Sharma – slightly higher, a little bit of extra bounce, and Siraj comes from a slightly different angle.”

“The two spinners that I would play will be Ashwin and Patel. Ashwin, well, he is the more experienced player. Patel adds a little bit of variety by turning the ball away from the right-handers. If Hardik Pandya can’t bowl 20 overs, I won’t be playing him instead of Siraj,” he added.

It remains to be seen however, if India will go in with 3 pacers and 2 spinners. The turning tracks in Chennai have often led to teams picking 3 spinners and 2 pacers. In that case, Kuldeep Yadav could be drafted in, instead of Ishant Sharma or Mohammed Siraj.

Also Read: India vs England 2021: “We are focusing only on this series and not on World Test Championship final,” says Ajinkya Rahane